1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic parking meter.
2. History of the Prior Art
An electronic parking meter, capable of responding to activation of an operating mechanism in response to a parking meter insert by displaying an associated time interval appropriate to the value of a time increment, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,206. The parking meter insert can be a coin, card, token, or any other associated time measuring device. The parking meter displays the associated time interval to a viewer by an LCD display. As the visibility of the LCD display is limited, the associated time interval is not readily discernable by viewers having vehicles parked in a parking space associated with the electronic parking meter, or by law enforcement personnel monitoring the electronic parking meter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,664 discloses a highly visible display means which comprises a magnetically actuatable element having a visual surface and a magnetic bias. The magnetically actuatable element is rotated by the application of a selectively reversible magnetic field. The magnetic field is suitably disposed to supply rotational torque to the rotatable element to produce a desired display.